Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) – full name was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a fascinating character. He was playing the piano perfectly by the age of 4, and by 5, was composing music while his father wrote it down. Not only that, but he could hear a piece once, and write it down from memory with very few errors. Mozart also played the violin. Mozart longed to be employed as a court composer (popular at that time period in history); however, never did. In fact, his employment history was very sketchy and against the thinking of the times (that of having to be employed by an aristocrat). He had to think ‘outside the box’ and get employment where he could. Because of this, he gained a great deal of experience in many styles of music and composed work that may have never been undertaken. His range of genre includes: opera, chamber music, to ballroom music. In fact, his formation of a variety of woodwinds, percussion, brass, and stringed instruments became the classical orchestra as we know it. He was so ‘outside the box’ that he even reproduced the first illegal copy of the Vatican’s music collection. He died at a young age (35) and the cause of his death is not really known. · http://www.mozartproject.org/ · http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/395455/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart · http://www.allmusic.com/artist/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-mn0000026350